Sep 22, 2016 · By Paul Werbaneth · Blogs
If you need hard evidence that consolidation in the semiconductor industry can be a good thing, then look no further than the visible success GLOBALFOUNDRIES is enjoying in the year-and-change since it completed its acquisition of the IBM Microelectronics business. In the 01 July 2015 press release GF issued about...Sep 22, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
After the European MEMS Summit 2016 concluded on Friday afternoon (September 15-16, 2016), one of the attendees asked me which presentation was my favorite presentation. I mulled it over, first declaring it was the Intel presentation by Raji Baskaran, and then Jérémie Bouchaud’s (IHS) presentation. And then it hit me:...Sep 21, 2016 · By Jean-Christophe ELOY · Blogs
System Plus Consulting announces the release in the next few weeks of a complete report on TSMC’s Integrated Fan-Out (inFO) technology used for Apple’s A10® processor packaging. And few results are already available. Indeed System Plus Consulting’s experts propose you to discover a previous of the first conclusions. Featured in the latest...Sep 21, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
Peter Clarke, EE Times, and I both agree – the biggest news of this year’s SEMI MEMS Summit, which took place September 17-18, 2016 in Stuttgart, Germany, was the announcement that SEMI is forming a strategic association partnership with the MEMS and Sensors Industry Group (MSIG). “This is good news, as...Sep 09, 2016 · By Paul Werbaneth · Blogs
I’ve had an epiphany regarding fan-out wafer level packaging (FOWLP). Epiphany: “A usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.” In FvT’s piece “Spotlight on FOWLP, Monolithic 3D IC, and 3D TSVs,” (13 May 2015) I am quoted saying: “Show me where monolithic or FOWLP...Sep 09, 2016 · By Andrew Walker · Blogs
I was again struck by the same epiphany as last year as I escaped the Californian sun to reach the air-conditioned Flash Memory Summit (FMS). The major part of the solid state storage industry depends on NAND Flash. All NAND Flash, whether it be 2-D or 3-D, floating gate or...Sep 09, 2016 · By Jean-Christophe ELOY · Blogs
Driven by rising demand for thinner wafers and stronger die, dicing technologies are evolving. “Reaching more than US$100 million in 2015, the dicing equipment market will double by 2020-2021”, announces Yole Développement (Yole) (Source: Thin Wafer Processing & Dicing Equipment Market report, Yole Développement, May 2016). Yet at the same...Sep 08, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
There is no doubt about it, 2016 is turning out to be the year of fan-out wafer level packaging (FOWLP) as the entire semiconductor industry turns to advanced wafer level packaging and system-in-package solutions to take the world to its next generation of connectivity, in which our smartphones drive our...Aug 26, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · 3D Event Coverage
Ok everybody, here it is, back by popular demand: the TOP TEN reasons (this time told in photos) why you don’t want to miss the second annual European MEMS Summit, which takes place September 15-16, 2016 at the Maritim Hotel Stuttgart Germany: 10: You get to mix and mingle with key decision makers at...Aug 18, 2016 · By SEMI · 3D Event Coverage
System integration is moving forward. Denser and high performing systems require advanced packaging, assembly, and test players to move closer together, and they mandatorily need to be involved in the collaboration along the full supply and value chain from the early beginning of new projects. The package is becoming a...Aug 12, 2016 · By Paul Werbaneth · Blogs
SEMI did a great job at SEMICON West 2016 organizing a bursting-at-the-seams amount of technical content presented on the show floor, content that included (pleasant surprise) a full track devoted to advanced packaging topics. Definitely not business as usual. The distinction between where fab processes end and where packaging processes...Aug 08, 2016 · By Herb Reiter · 3D In Context
Shortly before the summer break started, I attended a number of industry conferences: MEPTEC, ECTC, DAC, MEMS & Sensors, ASME and SEMICON West. At all of them, I clearly noticed that our industry is looking beyond “Moore’s Law” to advanced IC packaging, multi-die ICs, and system scaling. However, at every...Aug 05, 2016 · By Paul Werbaneth · Blogs
In the bric-à-brac collection that seems to form my particular set of memories and mental associations, I have at least two old somethings crowded in a Berlin corner that I have been looking after for years, a corner to which I have now recently added something new and exciting. And...Aug 02, 2016 · By Denny McGuirk · Blogs
2015 will be remembered mostly for the ‘wild ride’ that fundamentally changed the industry. An unprecedented wave of M&A activity swept across the electronics supply chain with scores of transactions and with notable multi-billion dollar companies being absorbed. As a result, in 2016, we are working within a significantly reshaped...Jul 28, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
Ever since we first established 3D InCites Awards program in 2013, our intention was to use the funds generated by sponsorship to promote STEM-based education. This year, thanks to the generosity of our platinum sponsor, KLA-Tencor, as well as silver sponsors, Yole Développement, and Amkor Technology, Inc., we are awarding...Jul 22, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
Every year at SEMICON West, in addition to taking in keynotes and technology sessions, I like to catch up with semiconductor suppliers to find out about any significant news, their latest offerings and how they are enabling next-generation manufacturing. Here are this year’s highlights. UnitySC One of the big stories...Jul 21, 2016 · By Paul Werbaneth · Blogs
If you, like me, have been wondering about when and where it was you last saw an International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors update, wonder no more. You didn’t miss the update; rather, it just never really came. (See FvT’s piece on Bill Bottoms and “Revamping the ITRS Roadmap” from March...Jul 20, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
If you attended SEMICON West 2016 last week, you probably noticed that the event is undergoing a metamorphosis. It was hard to miss. The signs were everywhere. Literally: It’s not surprising, since everything about the semiconductor manufacturing industry has been evolving over the past few years, and everyone, including SEMI,...Jul 15, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · 3D Event Coverage
I have to admit, after attending this week’s SEMICON West 2016, I’m feeling a little smug. Why? Because after years of waiting in the shadows for its day in the sun, advanced packaging is finally getting its turn, thanks to the push towards heterogeneous integration, which relies on advanced packaging...Jul 13, 2016 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
For the fourth consecutive year, the Impress Lounge played host to the 3D InCites Awards Ceremony, during which individuals, companies, and products were recognized by their peers for excellence in 3D packaging technologies. This year, we mixed it up a bit, and rather than recognize the processes, materials, designs and...